Flick of the Ears
by Zaphara98
Summary: The Flock wasn't the only successful experiment. Meet Andy, a fourteen-year-old girl with a different kind of secret. She's on a mission to save one of her Pounce when suddenly, she meets a bird-kid. Can they cool their tempers long enough to work together, or will it go up in flame?
1. Prologue

**A/N I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the characters. I only own my OCs: Andy, Bay, Reed, Lake, Morgan, and Gray. This is based kind of in line with The Angel Experiment. I will accept character sheets if you would like to submit your own character to be added in the story. There is no guarantee that they will, but you can still do it! If you do, please make it as descriptive as possible. If you would like them to be part of the Pounce, then I recommend waiting until the first chapter unless you've figured out what the Pounce is crossed with. Thanks, guys!**

**(Andy's PoV)**

I see you've picked up this book. For further notice, your very survival could depend on whether or not you believe the events in these pages. If you like you can put this down now, walk away, and forget all about it, but I wouldn't recommend it. After all, your survival depends on this. Oh, before I forget.

I'm only 90% human. Same with the rest of my family. Or, as we call it, our Pounce. That's a group of cats, for those who don't know.

Figured out what the other 10% of me is? Don't worry-you'll find out.

Anyway, this is my life story. This could be yours. It could be your kid's. How am I supposed to know? I'm fourteen.

This is my nightmare.


	2. Chapter 1: No

**A/N: I still don't own Maximum Ride. Laurel belongs to my good friend, The Inner Titan.**

**(Andy's PoV)**

I jumped from tree to tree, watching the forest below for any movement. For a moment I thought I was free, that I was going to get away. That is, until I heard the baying of the hounds. Dang.

The branches scratched my hands and face I went as fast as I could. My tail steadied me, and my ears were pinned against my head. I caught a trunk and swung around, leaping over the heads of the Erasers below me.

Yeah, Erasers. You know, half-men, half-wolf hybrids? Not exactly the most friendly creatures in the world. Try bloodthirsty and vicious. At the moment I was running for my life, trying to get as far away as I could. There was a patch of open sky in front of me that I was approaching faster and faster. Then my feet left the last branch and I was soaring through the air.

I landed with a jarring thump on the edge of the cliff. After rolling forward a few steps I popped to my feet and raced down the side of the precipice, treating the rocks like branches. Howls of fury followed my descent. _Eat my dust, suckers,_ I thought to them.

**~LINE~**

I leapt out of bed, hissing like a maniac. The fur on my extraordinarily long tail was bristling as the last of my dream peeled away from me. I flicked my ears, making my hair rustle. Did I forget to mention that they were nearly exactly on top of my head?

The house was almost completely silent, save for the small whistles of Gray's breathing. I crept quietly out of my room and down a set of stairs. The light that illuminated the house's ground floor was nearly blinding at first, and I let out a quiet hiss. My feet slid across the cool tile floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I yanked open our fridge door and pulled out a jug of milk. In the days after our caretaker had disappeared, I had taken over the care of the Pounce. I was, after all, the oldest. By all of ten minutes. There was a slight noise behind me and I whirled around. There stood the youngest member of the Pounce, seven-year-old Lake. She rubbed her hand over her deep blue eyes and yawned.

"What's for breakfast?" She asked.

"Food." I answered, plopping a half-empty box of cereal on the table. Lake pattered across the floor to stand next to me. I ruffled her small tufted ears affectionately.

"Why don't you get the silverware, and I'll go wake the others." I told her. Quietly Lake nodded and pulled open a drawer as I walked away.

Our house was sort of U-shaped, having been designed to fit around the top of a hill. Which, consequentially, was where it ended up. Funny how that works. I turned down a hall and knocked on the first door. A loud snort came from within the room.

"Gray! Rise and shine, buddy!" I called, opening the portal to possibly the messiest rooms in the history of messy rooms. I kicked my way through newspapers, dirty clothes, wrappers, and things that I couldn't identify - not that I wanted to, either. How a ten-year-old could accumulate so much stuff after being free from a dog cage for only a year was beyond me. Lake called it his protective shell. That was my girl, always the psychiatrist. Anyway...

I finally reached Gray's bed and nudged his foot a couple times. He moaned grumpily, "It was a good dream."

"Oh well. Breakfast in three." I replied, pinching his tailtip. I zipped out of his cave faster than I had done before and shut the door behind me. My twin brother and second-in-command, Bay, was leaning on the doorframe. He smiled down at me with his oh-so-cocky half-smile.

"Might pick a way to get him up that doesn't risk death," he said.

"Says the boy who nearly killed himself making toast." I said sassily, flicking his hip with my tail as I walked past. I could've sworn he was blushing to the tips of his ears.

Next stop, since Bay was obviously up, was Laurel's room. I was two months older than her. At least, we thought so. We weren't really sure. Anyway, I was about two months older than her, but we might as well have been twins. Not counting the fact that we looked absolutely nothing alike and acted completely differently. The parent thing was another issue. Back to the story.

I tapped softly on Laurel's door, calling, "You up?"

"Yeah," she replied quietly.

"Okay. Breakfast in three." I said. On to Morgan's room. Or, rather, the bomb factory. Does it scare me that a fourteen-year-old makes bombs? No. Call me a bad parent, but he had saved my butt with bombs too many times for me to refuse him the factory. Bedroom. Whatever.

The answer to my knock was a subtle _whump_. His hands could put together the smallest of bombs, but he obviously hadn't improved his coordination. That boy. His door creaked open to reveal Morgan, his entire front covered in soot, his entire back clean.

"Wash up fast. Breakfast in three." I told him, backing away.

"You've said that five mornings straight now." He responded.

"Change your routine, and I might change my tune. Now get moving." I patted his shoulder blade and jogged down the hall. Let's see...Lake was up, along with Gray, Bay, Morgan, and Laurel. Only Reed was left. I turned to head in the direction of her room.

Why did a girl have the name of Reed? It's a long story. Short version? She's as thin as a reed and nearly as tall as one. 5' 5" at eight has to be an accomplishment, right? At least for us it is.

I was nearly to her door when I heard a crash and a screech. Reed bounded out of her room just as I tore down the hall. _Please let it be a dish,_ I prayed silently. _Don't let it be a window. Don't let it-_ I spun around a corner and into the living room, where Bay was in hand-to-hand combat with an Eraser.

_No._

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**Haha! I left you with a cliffie! For further notice:**

**The Pounce is a human-feline hybrid.**

**Andy, Bay, and Laurel are fifteen.**

**Andy is: 95% human, 2% Snow Leopard(really long tail), 2% Margay(best climber in the cat world), and 1% Serval(best hearing in the cat world).**

**Reviewers get cookies! (::)**


	3. Chapter 2: A Mad Chase

**Disclaimer: Is this really neccesary? Anyway...I own nothing but my OCs. Laurel belongs to The Inner Titan. *Hands Titan a cookie* (::)**

**A/N: A cookie to Obiwan1022! (::) I promise that your OC is coming in soon!**

**Besides that...please review! I'll update even if you don't, but I'll try a lot harder if you do. I know you are viewing, and that's a good thing, but please, review and get a cookie! (::)**

* * *

Lake screamed again. She was being surrounded. _No, oh no._ I shot forward, slamming one fist into an Eraser's stomach. _Not my baby._ I leapt over the fallen body of a wolf-man. _Please, no._ Then I was spinning through the air, feeling my power take hold, feeling my face elongate into that of a cat. When I landed, I felt a hundred times lighter. Bay gestured wildly to me with his tail, his hands being occupied with a stubborn Eraser. I directed my gaze at Gray. He clapped his hands over an Eraser's ears, making the wolf-man howl in pain and collapse. Reed was socking the guts out of one Eraser, Morgan was throwing small bombs, Laurel was in the middle of hand-to-hand and Lake...where was Lake? I spun completely around, finally spotting a flash of her raven black hair underneath an Eraser's arm.

"Lake!" I roared, but it came out as a rather loud yowl. With no words. But still.

My paws skidded on thick Eraser fur as I jumped from head to head to reach my baby. I was aware of ripping ears with my claws and pain as more than one Eraser landed a blow on my flank, but only barely. All my energy, all of my mind, was focused on getting to Lake. They were stuffing her in a bag, cutting off her weak screams. The last thing I heard before they jumped out the window was her muffled cry of, "Andy!"

Without thinking, I crossed the remaining room with two bounds and soared out of the window.

**~~~~Line~~~~**

Was I being reckless? Yes. Was I being stupid? Yup. Was this a suicide mission? Probably. But I was going to do it anyway. There was no way I was going to - _ow!_

"Well, well, well," a rough voice ground out. "Look what the cat dragged in."

I hissed, shifting into a bobcat to free my tail. The Eraser hopped back from my claws, letting out a growling laugh. I changed again into my favorite form, a snow leopard. The Eraser snarled slightly. "Meow meow."

I jumped, slashing my front claws down his half-morphed face. He stumbled back, howling in pain, and I took that moment to bound away. My body rippled, becoming sleeker, slimmer, longer. My strides lengthened and sped up. Briefly I saw my now spotted feet in my vision. I was amazed and proud at the same time. Never had I changed three times in a row.

Suddenly a small black item streaked past my ear and exploded in an Eraser's chest. _Morgan!_ I cried in my mind.

_What?_ He snapped back.

What? You don't think a fourteen-year-old bomber that reads minds is normal? You humans.

_You're a good shot._ I said.

_Thanks._ There was a note of pride in his mental voice.

_Say, Morgan?_

_Yeah?_

_Is anybody else backing me up?_

Another bomb shrieked past my head. _Uh..._

_Gee. Thanks._ I wove sarcasm skillfully into my response. My blunt cheetah claws dug into the earth as I changed gears and began to pull away. Yet another bomb whizzed past, detonating only a foot in front of my nose. I swerved quickly and managed to barely avoid flying Eraser bits. Flecks of foul-smelling blood spattered my paws. Somehow the roar of an engine reached my ears. _NO!_

I gritted my teeth, now struggling to keep up the pace. Cheetahs were not built for stamina. I took a deep breath and did my fourth change.

My now larger paws battered the ground, producing a small cloud of dust. The Eraser's black Hummer was a haze in the distance and growing smaller. A small hand pressed itself against the rear window. I skidded to a halt on the edge of a steep hill, stunned. Lake was gone. I had lost. A sob tugged at my heart, and I roared my distress. My thick, shaggy mane scattered in the wind. _She was gone!_

**~~~~Line, evil line!~~~~**

I slid through the broken window, now in human form. Glass crunched under my shoes. Reed looked up hopefully, her ears perked.

"She's gone." Laurel said flatly. I nodded. A freezing breeze rustled through the room. Gray stood, his fists tight.

"She can't be!" He protested.

"She is." I replied. The temperature dropped again.

"Gray!" My brother snapped. His normally warm grey eyes were cold and hard, flashing with anger. As good as he was at hiding his feelings it was obvious that our loss hit him hard. Gray fell back onto our black couch, his ears flat against his head. Slowly the temperature returned to normal.

"Sorry." He said. I made my way across the carpet and sat next to him. I rubbed my hand on his back.

"It'll be alright. We'll find a way to get her back." I said.

"But where did they take her?" Morgan asked. A hard knot settled in my stomach. Laurel nodded at me. Suddenly it became hard to breathe. My voice came out small. "The School."

**~~~~More line...don't kill me for this.~~~~**

That went over well. Reed just about melted into a puddle of tears. Gray fell into my lap. Morgan stumbled slightly, reaching to a wall for support. And here I had thought it was bad when we missed the premiere of X-men: First Class. I looked to Laurel for support, but she was staring at her hands. Carefully I stood up.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Pull yourselves together. We've still got each other, we've got our tails, and we have something no one else has."

"Yeah, like cat D.N.A. and super powers." Morgan replied miserably. Bay punched a hole through the wall and pulled out something covered in dust.

"Wrong," he said. "We have a map."

"A lot of help that'll be!" Reed snapped.

"It's a map of the School." Laurel spoke up. "Of course it'll help."

"Exactly. Now, are you guys going to help us plan a rescue, or are you going to mope around like a housecat with no food?" I said.

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**A/N: So...what do you think? Am I moving to fast? Are there too many lines? Please tell me!**

**Again, review and get a virtual cookie!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Crazy Plan

I stood at the edge of the table, leaning on its cool wood. My Pounce crowded around me and peered at the map.

"We were held here," Bay pointed at the south wing of the School. I shivered slightly. I still had nightmares of the School, and now Lake was going back...

"They'll probably be taking her to the same wing, unless things have been moved around. Given the circumstances, I highly doubt it." I said.

"The security will definitely be higher." Laurel added.

Morgan was nodding. "I can't do much with bombs. Even a small one will alert them that we're there."

"Do you need bombs?" I asked.

"Do you need hair?" Morgan shot back. My eyes narrowed. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Sighing, I turned back to the map. Bay was tracing a possible route with his finger. I shook my head and pointed to a different one.

"Better chance of staying alive," I said.

"Get there faster," Bay said, keeping a finger on his path.

"I think she would prefer live rescuers." I persisted. My brother and I locked eyes.

"You know, I think she would prefer to have rescuers in general," Laurel cut in. I clenched my jaw and glared at Bay once more before directing my gaze to the map.

"Do you even have an idea of how we're going to get her out?" Gray asked.

"I'm getting there." I replied. Silence. I glanced up. Five very disbelieving faces were staring at me. I changed directions. "So...Gray and Reed, you two are staying behind."

Okay, three disbelieving faces and two furious faces.

"I'm not staying." Gray and Reed said at the same time.

"Yes, you are." I replied. "Someone needs to hold down the fort."

"The fort with the whole front window broken?" Reed asked.

"The fort that Erasers have invaded once already?" Gray added.

"They should come along. I know that they're a little younger, but they're great fighters." Morgan put in. I groaned.

"We need to move fast. They won't be able to keep up." I protested. "You can camp out in cabin."

Again the temperature dropped. "I'm not staying behind!"

"Yes, you are! Get your stuff and move out." I rolled up the map and stuffed it in my back pocket. "We'll go with you as far as the cabin."

**~~~~Line~~~~**

When I returned to the living room the Pounce was gathered in a circle, backpacks slung over their shoulders. I stifled a groan. They had obviously been planning something. Morgan jumped to his feet.

"Are we going?" He asked. I nodded in response. Shifting the weight of my backpack was easy. Shifting the weight of my Pounce, not so much. I kicked through their little knot, yanking them to their feet. One by one we jumped out of the broken window. Reed passed me without a word, followed by Gray. A small tendril of guilt wrapped itself around my heart. I was going to leave them behind. Without any help. I let out a small sigh and jogged to take the lead. Laurel and Bay flanked me. It felt almost...good to be on the move again, with my best friends following me. Except for the fact that I was beginning to feel the effects of my four or five changes.

_Note to self: Don't shift four times in a row._

Bay trudged next to me, glaring at the ground. It wasn't unusual for him, actually. He seemed to glare at everything but the Pounce. My thoughts began to drift towards my plan. Was it really that smart? I was leaving our two youngest members in a cabin by themselves. Were our supplies still there?

The train of questions was cut short by the appearance of our secret cabin. Dreading the next few moments, I turned.

"Gray, protect Reed. I'm serious - no funny business. Reed? Don't burn down the cabin." I leaned down to hug them both, stiff as they were. "We'll be back soon."

A voice came from behind us. "Back from where?"

**~~~~Line~~~~**

I nearly dislocated my hip, I turned so fast. The world spun before my eyes. The person before me was blurry and short. Really short. She was looking up at me with warm brown eyes that seemed familiar.

"Andy?" She said incredulously. "Bay?"

"Kat?" My brother replied.

"Holy crap, Kat!" I cried, limping forward a couple of steps. "Where have you been?"

"In the cabin."

"Oh. Duh." A warm feeling crept up my neck.

"So...where were you going?" Kat asked.

"We're going back." Bay answered stiffly. "They took Lake."

A few minutes later we were seated in the cabin. The Pounce gathered around the table as I cautiously went over my plan. When I finished, there was absolute silence. Then Kat burst out, "That's insane."

"Completely crazy," Laurel agreed.

"It's our best shot." I said. Half-expecting a scathing retort, I turned to Bay. "Right?"

"It's our best bet." He answered. I blinked, surprised, but he added, "You're still insane to have come up with it."

"That's beside the point." I snapped. Morgan let out a small chuckle.

"Before you kill someone," Reed cut in, "We should get going."

"_You_ aren't going anywhere." I reminded. Cue two death glares that I ignored.

Morgan sighed and gave Gray a one-armed hug. The rest of us quietly said our goodbyes, moving fast to save daylight. I moved away from the cabin, taking one glance over my shoulder at the cabin. One very sad mutant face was in the window, her deep chocolate eyes following our path. Then she disappeared. I faced forward again, beginning to doubt my plan. A small voice inside my head piped up, _Do what is best for your Pounce. Don't think about what might be bad, think about what _will_ be bad._

_Thank you, philosophical nonsense,_ I replied snarkily. But I knew it was right. I also knew that I was probably going to regret this.

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**A/N: Now to thankng my reviewers...**

**Reading Addicted: I hope she strikes you as a little more real this time. Here's your cookie! (::)**

**Obiwan22: Thank you! The School is basically the same, the Pounce just has a different view of it because they were in a different part. And your character will have more action in the next chapter, I promise! (::)**

**On another note...The fantastic cover was made for me by I Was Divided by Zero. Thank you so much! :D I shall now give you a cookie. (::)**


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